Chapter 25 Twins were also conceived in the water.
Beside an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of the city, a wrecked car was covered with a black cloth. If you didn't get close, you would never know that there were five or six people hiding inside.
Youzhen sat in the passenger seat, her eyes glued to the screen. Behind her were the prosecutor and the police. Her aunt was at the wheel.
The screen was a blank white, with only undulating curves and sounds coming from inside the warehouse.
Youzhen couldn't help but feel a little regretful; had she gone too far last night?
If I had known Qin Lingchuan would confront Zhou Yuanli today, I shouldn't have pestered him while drunk yesterday.
At one point, the pressure was on his stomach, and the fetus was naturally unhappy that its space to move was being restricted, so it reacted violently, which scared her so much that she broke out in a cold sweat and instantly sobered up.
Now, she really wanted to knock out her past self from last night. How could Qin Lingchuan's body withstand two people, one big and one small, moving on top of him?
Even his voice sounded a little hoarse: "You even kidnapped your own grandfather, Zhou Yuanli, what else are you incapable of doing?"
Youzhen knew that if Qin Lingchuan hadn't protected her so well, she would be the one being kidnapped right now.
But she couldn't allow that to happen. She watched all the documentaries Dr. Huang gave her repeatedly and took careful notes.
The most important rule is that the pregnant woman's partner must be by her side during childbirth. Otherwise, she may die in childbirth.
Qin Lingchuan went alone, forbidding her from following.
Young Zhen's ten fingers intertwined, each second feeling like an eternity.
Zhou Yuanli stood behind the old, worn-out sofa, tapping her fingertips on the back of the sofa a few times: "Do you think you have the right to negotiate with me now?"
Next to the container behind him, Zhou Qingyue was bound hand and foot, surrounded by men in black.
Qin Lingchuan, on the other hand, was opposite him, his hands tied behind his back to a chair.
My stomach has been aching since this morning, sometimes aching, sometimes tight, and sometimes hard.
He knew he had to act quickly.
Boss Li put one hand on the back of Qin Lingchuan's chair and said with exasperation, "Brother Qin, tell me, why did you do this for a woman? You lost all your assets just to buy back the Xia family's shares and secret formula? You know that betraying me will not end well."
A strange chill ran through Qin Lingchuan's eyes, and even the confident Boss Li couldn't help but shudder when they met his gaze.
"We're just business partners, how can you talk about betrayal? Besides, Boss Li never really intended to help me. You gave me clues and lured me back to China, just to make me your slave. Otherwise, why didn't you kill me back in London?"
Boss Li was clearly taken aback, and then placed his greasy hand on Qin Lingchuan's stomach.
He hated being touched, especially on the stomach. Qin Lingchuan suppressed his discomfort and turned the recording device on his sleeve to adjust it more precisely.
"You knew I was the one who sent people to kill you?"
Qin Lingchuan sneered: "If I can't even find this out, would you still consider me your business partner? Xiaotan has already been sent back to London by me. Mr. Li, do you want to make a call to your daughter?"
Upon hearing the mention of Li Xiaotan, Boss Li panicked: "You're threatening my daughter?"
Qin Lingchuan slowly shook his head, concealing the wave of pain in his abdomen, before speaking: "Where did I threaten you? I sent her out to protect her. Otherwise, what can an old man about to go to jail protect her for?"
"You!" Boss Li wanted to say something, but Zhou Yuanli stopped him, took a few steps forward, and looked up from Qin Lingchuan's pear-shaped belly, fixing his gaze on his still angular face.
"Brother? Isn't it just that you want others to submit to you? I call you brother, are you happy? Are you satisfied?"
Zhou Yuanli braced herself on the armrests of the chair and leaned towards him.
Qin Lingchuan raised his eyes and stared intently at him: "You just said I'm not qualified to negotiate with you. Shouldn't I be the one saying that?"
Zhou Yuanli turned to the steward Liu beside her and said, "We are a family with good manners. Otherwise, my brother would think that only he knows how to be polite."
Butler Liu smiled obsequiously.
Zhou Yuanli continued, "Trading the Xia family's secret recipe for Grandpa? Brother, you're not losing out. What can you do if you don't agree? Youzhen is mine, and she'll give it to me anyway. Why don't you just give me a straight answer, brother?"
Zhou Qingyue watched coldly as his beloved grandson, whom he had spoiled since childhood, used him as a hostage to question a relative who hadn't been by his side for over twenty years.
"Hasn't your brother never experienced family affection? Isn't family affection more important than money? What are you hesitating about?" Even Boss Li thought Zhou Yuanli's appearance was a bit too crazy.
"Zhou Yuanli..." Qin Lingchuan suppressed a surge of pain and finally called him by his full name, "You've studied the Xia sisters for so long, do you know how their names came about?"
Zhou Yuanli narrowed her eyes: "Why did you bring this up?"
"Ha, I bet you didn't know. You faked an accident to kill Ruozhen, yet you don't even know her name."
Zhou Yuanli suddenly turned around: "So what if I killed her? Xia Ruozhen was sickly since she was a child. Even if I hadn't killed her, she wouldn't have lived long."
Inside the abandoned car, the beeping sound of the recording was particularly jarring in the quiet cabin. The prosecutor and the police exchanged a glance and quickly took notes.
Youzhen sensitively noticed her aunt's clenched fists, and reached up to warmly envelop her hands.
Qin Lingchuan's voice sounded broken, as if he had to catch his breath before he could speak again: "'If it's true,' if it's true. The Xia family has long understood that the younger sister who was sent away was the one they wanted to keep back then. It's just that by a twist of fate, the older sister, who had a weaker constitution, was kept. The two sisters have a homophone in their names, but they are not the same character. This is also a way of reminding future generations not to shoot themselves in the foot."
"You must have heard all this from Aunt Xia, right? She even chased you all the way to London to raise you. She really let a wolf into the house." Zhou Yuanli pulled out a syringe from somewhere, and a few drops of water hissed from the tip.
Butler Liu suddenly spoke up: "The second young master has had a tough time too. Do you think the Zhou family was able to grow so big and powerful because other companies came to lick their boots? The second young master put in so much effort to acquire other brands and expand his territory."
Zhou Yuanli suddenly felt something was wrong. Why would Lao Liu, who had watched him grow up, specifically call him "Second Young Master"?
He hates being second best.
He was even well aware that Youzhen was merely a second-best option for him.
Because they are always one step behind others, they want to turn others into 'second place' who follow behind them.
“Even if,” Qin Lingchuan gasped, “you sacrifice your future and freedom? Do you know that you’ve kidnapped Grandpa and me, and you won’t be able to leave this door either?”
Zhou Yuanli pointed the needle at his elder brother's spine: "Where did I kidnap you? I'm helping you, brother."
He leaned close to Qin Lingchuan's ear and whispered, "You're about to give birth, aren't you? I can tell. This injection of labor-inducing agent will speed up the process, and you'll suffer less, brother."
The cold needle tip pierced through his thin shirt and pressed against his back skin.
With just the slightest impact, oxytocin will be injected immediately.
Qin Lingchuan suddenly rolled to the ground, falling over with his chair.
The needle tip tore a long gash in the back of the shirt.
Inside the car, Youzhen had no idea what had happened. She only heard a thud and two hissing sounds from the equipment before the connection was lost.
At the critical moment, Qin Lingchuan untied the rope fastened behind his back and then took the recorder out of his sleeve.
At the same time, Youzhen arrived at the scene with the people in the car.
Qin Lingchuan said, "Chief Prosecutor, it's up to you now."
The chief prosecutor glanced at his belly. He had heard of this man before, but seeing him today, he finally understood what it meant to turn steel into silk.
Youzhen immediately ran to Qin Lingchuan's side, watching Zhou Yuanli being handcuffed, still staring incredulously at everyone in the warehouse.
Even after being led to the car, he refused to take his eyes off the butler.
While the people in the other vehicles went into the warehouse to search, Zhou Yuanli finally asked the question: "Old Liu, why did you betray me?"
Old Liu was also taken into custody. He had long lost the youthful vigor of his younger days, and was now merely a man clinging to life amidst the power struggle: "Second Young Master, it's not that I betrayed you. The Master made this arrangement when he was alive. He knew that you would meet again one day, and he repeatedly suppressed Qin Lingchuan and supported you. But your life is too good, and his life is too bad. He was thrown abroad as a child and fought his way out of an environment surrounded by wolves. How could you possibly defeat him?"
Zhou Yuanli raved incoherently: "I lost? I lost because of Grandpa and Dad's favoritism? When my older brother came back, he had everything, but I have nothing?"
With his shoulders pressed down, Old Liu managed to utter only one last sentence: "Everything Qin Lingchuan has, he has taken from him. It's because they favor you so much that you can't compete with them. The master sent me to stay by your side so that if necessary, I can ask Qin Lingchuan to protect you and prevent the Zhou family from dying out."
No descendants? Of course not...
Zhou Yuanli glanced at the man's stomach, then rolled up the car window, and black stickers covered everything outside.
After the search was completed, Qin Lingchuan felt as if all his strength had been drained away. He took a step back and slumped into a chair.
Xia Youzhen could never have imagined that, with twins on her back, her body heavy, and the shock she had suffered, she would give birth prematurely at only eight and a half months.
"Lingchuan, don't be afraid. You've always protected me before. Now, I'll protect you, okay?"
Qin Lingchuan collapsed into her arms, his unbearable burning pain and heavy breathing echoing in her ears. He struggled to raise his hand towards her.
Youzhen quickly took his hand and placed it on her heart: "It's okay, let's go back now. I've already called Dr. Huang."
Qin Lingchuan knew that the oxytocin had been injected to some extent. He could still bear the pain from the contractions, but the impatient little one was turning and wriggling inside, which really made him lose his strength.
A few months earlier, Dr. Huang turned the baby to a different position so that the thinner right side of the uterine wall wouldn't be kicked too hard.
I don't know if the baby turned its head inside, but the pain on my right side is making me dizzy.
He held Youzhen's hand, not mentioning the fatigue, the pain, or that it was all over. He simply moved his gaze up to her face and said with a sigh of relief, "Youzhen, you no longer need to live like your sister. You can be yourself now..."
Youzhen caught a glimpse of the syringe beside her; the needle seemed to pierce her heart, barbed and drawing blood.
She picked it up, put it away, and planned to give it to Dr. Huang to examine later.
Youzhen pressed her hand against the back of his hand, and heard him say, "From now on, you are the rightful Mrs. Qin, and no one will restrain you anymore..."
Qin Lingchuan was barely breathing, and Youzhen, anxious, raised her voice slightly: "Stop talking, save your strength!"
Qin Lingchuan laughed instead of laughing at her shout: "You're so fierce... Where's Grandpa? He's..."
Youzhen glanced back and said, "Grandpa is alright. We've already sent someone to take him home. Shall we go back to the T family too?"
She couldn't support Qin Lingchuan on her own, so he held her so she couldn't move: "Don't go back to the Zhou residence, go... go to the town."
Youzhen roughly calculated that it would take three hours to drive from this abandoned warehouse to the easternmost town. Moreover, no one had lived there for a long time, so not to mention medical equipment, she didn't even know if there were any basic daily necessities left.
Qin Lingchuan's voice was firm: "I... really want to go back..."
Youzhen's heart clenched suddenly. As she watched his pupils gradually lose focus, she vaguely felt that there was another unspeakable meaning behind his words.
Her heart ached, and she couldn't bear to disobey him, so she repeatedly agreed, "Okay, let's go back to town. We'll go now..."
Youzhen didn't know how she got through the journey.
She urgently asked Jinyu to go back and tidy up, and specially cleaned up the courtyard house where Qin Lingchuan had lived. Tao Bei drove, and the two of them sat in the back seat. Qin Lingchuan insisted on not lying on Youzhen's lap. He was in pain and half asleep. When they passed a small pit, he felt a sharp stab in his abdomen, followed by some warm liquid flowing into his genitals.
He then became even more unwilling to let Youzhen touch him.
Tao Bei raced against time, delivering the person in just two and a half hours.
The town remains unchanged, with a few fallen leaves turning slightly yellow on the stone-paved road, bringing a sense of peace.
Dr. Huang and Jinyu not only prepared the delivery bed, but also filled the bathroom with a pool of warm water.
"What is this...?" Youzhen was a little confused. She was about to help Qin Lingchuan up to the second floor.
Dr. Huang frowned and looked at him, then said with great experience, "The master is probably not able to go upstairs now."
It wasn't just going upstairs; he even had some difficulty crossing the threshold when he bought the house.
Dr. Huang explained, "Come on, Miss Youzhen, let's help the boss into the bathtub. The buoyancy of the water can reduce the pain and speed up the labor process."
Youzhen helped the person inside with some skepticism. She had seen this method in the previous documentary, but there were other methods as well. Why didn't Dr. Huang choose the other ones?
While thinking, Youzhen changed Qin Lingchuan's clothes. He still wore the sleeveless pajamas on his upper body, only revealing his round upper belly.
Below the navel, everything was submerged beneath the frigid water.
He was sweating a lot. Firstly, she was worried he would catch a cold, since he had just given birth and was now exposed to the wind; secondly, although they had been intimate a few times, she was still a little shy about seeing a man's naked body under the bright lights.
The glistening beads of sweat did not detract from his charm; on the contrary, their dynamic sheen made him even more captivating.
The rise and fall of her breath caused her waist and abdomen to contract, and the blood vessels beneath her skin became faintly visible. A few beads of sweat that were about to fall were gently wiped away by Youzhen.
“I chose it, to be born in the water,” Qin Lingchuan suddenly said.
"Hmm?" Youzhen responded subconsciously, meeting his nonchalant gaze, and then realized that he had seen through her thoughts.
He could always guess what she was thinking.
"Do you remember our engagement party...?" He was too embarrassed to go into too much detail in front of Dr. Huang.
Youzhen understood; she had guessed his thoughts.
The couple conceived their child in the bathtub during their engagement party.
He drowned himself first before she went to help him.
Touched, Youzhen gently touched his forehead—it was slightly feverish.
Dr. Huang ran her hand over his round belly and said, "The baby is in the right position, so don't worry, sir. But you're only three centimeters dilated, so the labor will be long. You'll have to work hard, sir."
He took the syringe from Youzhen and frowned slightly.
"I'm going out for a bit." Dr. Huang left in a hurry.
Youzhen knew she had to endure it, so she simply changed her clothes and stepped into the water.
Qin Lingchuan was slightly surprised by her sudden approach.
Once he saw what clothes she had changed into, he turned his head away, leaving only his slightly reddened earlobes visible.
I don't know why the bathroom light was so bright; we could see every little change in each other so clearly.
Youzhen was wearing his shirt, with the cuffs rolled up to his elbows and the hem barely covering his upper thighs. The two buttons on the collar were not fastened. As his body sank into the water, the wet shirt clung to him, revealing his curves in all its glory.
Qin Lingchuan remembered that this shirt was the one he draped over Youzhen's shoulders when he carried her out of the room that day when she deliberately wore her sister's cheongsam to provoke him.
She struggled and resisted at that time, throwing the shirt away, smashing it, and hitting it.
He thought that after he left, she would definitely throw all his clothes out like trash.
But the garment in front of her was perfectly ironed; there wasn't a single wrinkle when she walked over.
Youzhen pulled him into her arms, and he could still smell the scent of laundry detergent on her body.
He remembered this smell; it was the same smell on the yellow dress she wore when they first met in the courtyard.
The clothes that have been dried in the welfare home all have this fragrance.
The vibrant life force under the sun, and the unique scent of clothes worn in the sunlight.
Qin Lingchuan was soaked in sweat, and his face turned pale with pain whenever he moved.
Even he himself couldn't distinguish which parts were pool water and which were sweat.
Youzhen followed suit and touched his belly as well.
Qin Lingchuan chuckled softly during a lull in the contractions: "You really can feel it?"
“Yes.” Youzhen nodded very seriously. “Look, this is the arm, this is the body, this is the foot…”
She took Qin Lingchuan's hand and touched it as well. The pain returned, and Qin Lingchuan couldn't spare any attention to feel it.
Youzhen hugged him from behind and splashed some warm water on his belly.
The crucial thing is that she needs to find the baby's head. Yes, this is the right position, but she doesn't know how much longer it will take...
Just like on the day of the engagement party, there was no clock in the room, so we didn't know the time.
It might only take a few minutes, or it might take several hours.
Qin Lingchuan simply rubbed her hand, refusing to utter a sound, his brows furrowed and his nose wrinkled.
It was as if he had suddenly drunk a mouthful of bitter medicine, and he made an expression out of the blue.
He didn't know how much pain he was in, and he wanted to avoid her embrace again.
Youzhen noticed it at a glance and was unwilling to let go. She gently stroked his belly as she asked, "Are they twins too?"
Qin Lingchuan paused for a moment before slowly uttering an "Mm".
When he first heard the news, he was almost terrified by the impermanence of fate.
Fate seems to keep turning, and he's pregnant with twins again. Is this some kind of punishment for him?
In the future, if brothers or sisters look so alike, will he not be able to tell them apart?
Or is there something that will happen to them?
Youzhen rested her head on the top of his stomach, and Qin Lingchuan slowed his breathing. However, the slight ripples of the water still dampened the ends of her hair. Youzhen's hair was naturally curly, and when it was wet, the curls became even more pronounced, clinging to her temples and adding a touch of charm.
There was indeed a lot of movement inside, but when Qin Lingchuan looked up again, he closed his eyes, seemingly enduring intense discomfort.
Youzhen simply cupped his belly with both hands and gently guided the baby downwards, feeling the swelling in her palms.
But as time went by, her comforting words became less and less effective.
Dr. Huang is back. That tube contains labor-inducing medication, that's for sure.
Clearly, it has been working for some time now.
However, there was no progress as expected. In Dr. Huang's experience, even in the documentaries that Youzhen had watched, no one had ever experienced such severe pain at this stage.
So when it came time to give birth, Qin Lingchuan was somewhat unable to exert any strength.
After being tossed around for so long, Qin Lingchuan was somewhat delirious. The two people inside probably shared his competitive nature, neither willing to give in, and neither could get out.
Youzhen held his belly with one hand and reached behind him with the other.
He must have injured himself somewhere, which stopped the baby from falling.
Sure enough, it was right under the coccyx, where it had been dented from hitting the ground and was now stuck under the baby's head.
Qin Lingchuan could no longer feel the pain in his tailbone. He held his breath and could only stare at the intense pain in his abdomen, with only a faint groan escaping his lips.
Youzhen put her arm around his shoulder and gently placed him in her arms: "It's alright, Lingchuan, everything will be alright. Let's give birth to the baby first, then we'll set the bones, it'll be alright, it'll be alright..."
She spoke incoherently, and it was unclear whether she was trying to comfort Qin Lingchuan or herself.
She slowly moved her hand down along the baby's position.
Like a dried-up riverbed welcoming a torrential downpour, every crevice yearns for her comfort.
The fetus obeyed her commands, wriggling obediently in her hands.
Seeing his exhausted state, Youzhen felt an unbearable heartache.
He was the first person I met on the cobblestone street in the small town; he was the person holding an umbrella in the rainy night; he was blind; he returned to the Zhou family home; he was the person in the dark room...
All these intertwined events reappeared before her eyes, and the man's weak, hoarse voice almost snapped her heartstrings.
"Lingchuan, just a little more effort, it'll be over soon..."
She dared not push him further, firstly for fear of causing secondary damage to his tailbone, and secondly because, in the current situation, pushing him forcefully might kill him.
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Author's Note: Every time I get to the part where I'm about to give birth, I get this feeling of waiting for my husband outside the delivery room [doge emoji]
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